The Brothers
by damnitjane
Summary: Lisbon's Brother is in trouble, but the only one who knows where he is seems only concerned about his sister and her partner's relationship...
1. Chapter 1

**The Brothers**

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

Lisbon trapped her bottom lip between her teeth and groaned. This was a disaster. Not that the last time she had met a brother of hers that it was peaches. No. But this time, Patrick Jane wasn't just her partner in the professional sense, he was her partner in the bedroom, too. She hated the nervousness that crept inside her stomach and bubbled to the surface.

"We'll find him, Teresa," Jane told her, breaking her from the uneasy thoughts in her mind. "I promise."

She looked over at him and smiled, then turned to her brother Stanley, who was across the table from them. They were at his house, as she and the other FBI agents had been all day, talking with him about what he knew about Jimmy Lisbon's gambling debts. Lisbon knew her brothers inside and out, and she knew that Stanley Lisbon was lying through his perfect white teeth.

"If you know more than what you are telling me, Stan, so help me God..." she told him, tilting her head and shaking it. "This isn't a joke."

Stan looked at his sister and frowned. Stan was a handsome man in his late 30's, and his green eyes and brunette hair mirrored his sisters exactly. He was a family man, and seemed to have his life more together than any of his siblings, save for Lisbon. He had a young wife, two children and a good job. There was little that Stan didn't have, but the ability to lie just happened to be something he lacked sorely.

"Come on, Reese," he told her, his gaze sliding to the blonde haired, blue-eyed man sitting beside her and back. "Jim doesn't tell me anything! I don't know anything about this!"

"This isn't a game, Stan," Lisbon told him, leaning forward. "I know when you are lying to me."

"What she means is that we think you know a little more than you are letting on," Jane interrupted. "You're sweating pretty profusely, you keep breaking eye-contact with us, and you seem to be tapping your leg under the table."

Stan looked at Jane a moment before his confused face fell back to his sister. "Who the hell is this?"

"I'm a consultant with the FBI," Jane told him, holding up his badge in front of Stan's face. "You're nervous..."

"And you're sleeping with my sister," Stan replied, eyeing Jane with suspicion. "Am I close?"

"Stan!" Lisbon shouted. "Stop it."

"That wasn't a denial," he shot back.

"I seem to hit a nerve, Stanley," Jane told him, replacing his badge on his lapel and smiling. "And, yes, I am sleeping with your sister. We've been seeing each other for awhile. I guess that is close enough," he replied. "Now, back to your brothers' whereabouts..."

Stan was stunned silent by the blunt admission as Lisbon looked from one man to the other, shaking her head and closing her eyes. She knew something like this would happen. Her brothers had a way of knowing. She wasn't sure if it was her face or her demeanor that always gave her away, but they had done it for years. It's why she was so hesitant to come here. Stan was mild-mannered, but his civility often only took him so far when it came to his family, both immediate and extended.

"He's in the wind," Stan replied, his gaze not leaving Lisbon's. "I don't know where. If I did, I'd tell you, Reese. Honest."

"Did you know about his gambling debt? That he witnessed a murder? Did he tell you anything about that?" Jane asked, snapping his fingers in between them to capture Stan's attention.

Stan's eyes slide to Jane and shook his head. Jane looked over at Lisbon, who was looking at her brother as only a sister could when she knew he was lying out of his teeth.

"Listen, Stan," she leaned forward, her voice dropping. "You have a family to protect. If you know something that could affect the way you protect them, you need to come clean. Jimmy can only be helped if you help him. I'm your sister, and I don't want you sitting across from me and lying through your damn teeth."

Stan sighed. He knew there was no way Teresa was going to let him sit there and lie for Jimmy. She had a point. If Jimmy were in danger, there was only one way to help him, and it was coming clean with as much as he knew. His eyes found hers and he pushed a hand through his hair.

"He's at the motel on the corner of Oakwood and Palm," he finally told her. "He called me last night. He said there were two men after him, and that one of them killed a bookie he was dealing with."

"Thank you, Stan," Jane told him. "That's a brave and selfless act. I know he's your brother, and it's hard."

Stan sighed at that and turned his head back to Jane. He turned to glance at Lisbon and then back to Jane, his face becoming stern and stony.

"You break my sister's heart, I will break your legs," he told Jane. "Understand?"

Jane chuckled lightly. "Yes. I think I do."

"Don't let the 'family man' label my sister gives me fool you. She's all we boys got. If you hurt her in any way, I will make sure that debt is repaid."

"Understood," Jane told him. "I can assure you that my intentions with your sister are pure and noble."

"Stan, that's enough," Lisbon told him. She placed a hand up in front of her for him to stop.

"Do you love my sister, Mr. Jane?" he asked.

Jane looked at Lisbon and reached for her hand, curling his fingers around hers. He looked at Stan, whose eyes had fallen to their connected hands. Stan nodded his head.

"Yes, I do," Jane told him. 'Very much."

"Good. She deserves to be happy and loved. She'd given everything for us boys growing up. Don't let what happened with Jimmy serve as a reflection. She is the reason we even grew into men," Stan said. "A little girl herself taking care of three younger brothers. She deserves a man who can take care of her for a change."

"I plan on doing just that," Jane replied, his voice low.

Stan looked across the table and Lisbon and smiled sadly at his sister. "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you. So mature and happy. You're truly happy. It's something I've been waiting for thirty years to see."

"I am happy," Lisbon replied, looking at Jane squeezing his fingers and smiling wide. "I've waited my whole life to feel this happy, Stan. I really have."

"Well, then I guess you have my blessing," Stan told her. "Not that you need it or want it. But you deserve him, Teresa. If he makes you smile that widely every day, then I am fine with him."

"Thank you," she told Stan. "Now to get Jimmy out of this unscathed so he can threaten my boyfriend, too."

"Well, the getting-him-out-unscathed part shouldn't be too hard..." Stan tailed off. "Jimmy is the kind to actually break kneecaps instead of threatening to do it...Good luck, Mr. Jane," Stan smiled, getting up from the table with his sister and Jane.

'I'll be sure to keep my distance," Jane assured. "Goodbye, Stanley. It was nice meeting you."

"The next time you visit me, it better be to tell me you want to marry my sister," he told Jane. "Make it something good."

"Yes," Jane told him. "I'll be sure to do that."

"And, Mr. Jane?"

'Yes?"

"Thank you for being honest with me," he told him. "Honesty makes a man."

Jane smiled and took Lisbon's hand. Together, they left the little yellow house of Stan Lisbon. Honesty made the man, but love made the woman. And, man, did he love that woman.


	2. Jimmy Lisbon

** THE BROTHERS**

** CHAPTER 2: JIMMY LISBON **

** -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

She reached the door and looked back at Jane, who was nodding his head slowly. She raised her fist to the officers behind them and tapped her wrist, indicating that they would go on her time, and were to stand down until she indicated she needed help.

Turning herself around, she knocked on the ugly red door that indicated the room Jimmy was in. When she got no answer, she knocked louder, her fist pounding on the door.

"James! James, it's Teresa. I need you to open the door and let me in, okay?" she yelled loudly, leaning against the door jamb and placing her ear close to the wood panel of the door. "I know you're in there, Jimmy. You have nowhere else left to go."

There was silence at first. Jane walked up next to Lisbon and knocked loudly on the door, the vibration knocking the door knocker around to clang against the aged wood.

"James Lisbon? Listen, we know you're innocent, okay? Your sister and I just want to talk to you about what happened. The more time you waste, the more likely the people behind me will knock this door down and take you by force. This is your chance."

"Jane!" Lisbon told him, her face clearly telling him to back it up a little.

Just as she was about to scold him for being so blunt, there was a noise behind the other side of the door. With a deep groan, the old door of the motel popped up slightly to reveal a scruffy-faced man with eyes that mirrored Lisbon's. His hair was disheveled and pushed to the front of his forehead in a long, greasy curl.

"Reese?" asked Jimmy, squinting in the bright sunshine that was hitting his face. "Is that you? Who is this?" he asked, pointing at Jane with disdain. "How did you even… Stan!"

Lisbon stepped in front of Jane and pushed the door open widely with her hands, pushing Jimmy to the side as she and Jane strolled in. Lisbon turned to the police waiting just beyond them and held up a finger for them to wait. Turning and closing the door, she took in the room and sighed.

Jimmy Lisbon was living out of this motel for days, it seemed. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, food trays and pizza boxes on the bed and dresser, and the room smelled of spoilt cheese and old socks. Lisbon shook her head and crossed her arms, and Jane took to examining the room.

"Oh, Jimmy," she sighed. "What have you done to yourself?"

Jimmy's eyes followed Jane around the room, watching precariously as he picked up a stray pizza crust and tossed it back in its box. Jimmy reluctantly turned from him and back to his sister, who was leaning against the only clean surface in the room; a small, oak desk with a lamp on it near the window.

"Don't play nurturer, Reese," said Jimmy, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "You haven't been around to see us in a few years. I've just fallen on bad times, that's all."

"You're a gambler, James," Jane answered him. "You live like this," he pointed all around the room with his finger, "because you don't have a stable way of living. You seem to need the nurturing."

Jimmy's eyes slid to Jane. "Who the hell are you? Do I know you?"

Jane flashed him a smile and shook his head. "No, but I am very, very good at understanding people, Jimmy. You are a degenerate gambler, and now you are in trouble. I think you will be glad to know me soon enough."

Jimmy looked at Lisbon and jerked a thumb toward Jane. "Please tell me you didn't get attached to this one?"

Lisbon cleared her throat and swallowed the lump that had formed. Her brother was a mess, but even worse was he was smack in a murder investigation. Being a gambler was bad enough, but adding the murder of someone whose killers would silence anyone who knew about it was worse. Jimmy was in dire straights.

"This isn't about him," she answered. "We're here to get your side of the story, Jimmy."

"Oh, man, Reese…" he trailed off, shaking his head and plopping on the dirty mattress. "He's another Greg, isn't he? This is exactly the same thing you did with him, Teresa. Please tell me this oddball isn't another Greg?"

"Jimmy, this is serious. I am a homicide detective. I know when you are changing the subject or hiding things from me. You better tell me, because when I leave this room, I will have them take you in and grill you at the FBI headquarters.

Jimmy was silent for a few minutes, his eyes darting from his sister to Jane and back. Finally, after a sharp exhale, he put his head in his hands and shook it.

"Oh, hell, Reese," he told her. "It was a high-stakes poker game. I didn't even know many of the people who were there except the bookie, who was keeping tabs on winnings and bets and a few of the regulars. I didn't even know what was happening until I saw Dugan and Paulie pull a gun from under the table and shoot the bookie. They took his money and took off. I swear to god, Reese."

"…and you hold yourself up in this dump because?" Lisbon asked, looking at her brother with pity.

"I was scared, Reese! You don't mess around with these people! I didn't pay my debt, either, which is a sin in the world of Poker, Teresa."

"You're going to end up just like Daddy, Jimmy," she told him sadly. "He used alcohol, and you are using gambling. You have a problem. I didn't raise you like this."

Jimmy nodded his head in agreement and lifted his head. "I know that."

Lisbon shook her head as she straightened and walked to the door.

"I'm going to go brief them on what you told me, and then we are going to transport you down there to provide an official statement, Jimmy. You have got to clean yourself up and stop doing this," she told him. "You, Stan and Tommy are all I have for family. I want to keep it at three of you, okay?"

Jimmy nodded but said nothing as he watched her pull open the door and disappear outside. He sighed sharply and pursed his lips.

"She's just upset to see you like this," Jane told him, coming around to stand in front of him. "It's naturally for a sibling."

Jimmy forgot that Jane was even here. His eyes raised up to meet the oddball in the vest, with the golden curls and blue eyes.

"You seeing my sister?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Jane. "She gets attached to people like their her pets," he told him. "She tries to fix them. She behaves differently with people she's seeing. I've seen it quite a bit growing up."

Jane chuckled softly. He had to agree with her brother there. She did behave differently when involved with someone. He noticed it back when she had found Mashburn to be a selective one-night-stand. She's much more exuberant and her face changes to reflect contentment.

"Yes," he responded honestly. "I am seeing her. Rather, we are seeing each other."

"Always the odd ones she picks," he mumbled. "You're nosy… that's your problem, right? I mean… you really don't seem like her type, you know? She never really mentioned you before."

He watched as Jane reached over and pulled a chair from the desk up, sitting across from him. Jane flashed that smile again and shook his head.

"Nosy? No. I just pay attention, Jimmy," he told him. "She's never mentioned me before because it's always been platonic, what we had. That tide as passed, though, I suspect. Stan says you'd break my kneecaps for Teresa. I have to admire that."

"If you hurt my sister in any way, absolutely," he confirmed. "You talked to Stan, too?"

Jane nodded his head. "Yes. He seems to have given his blessing to us. What about you?"

Jimmy snorted. "Reese doesn't need our blessing. She does what she wants. But if you're asking me if I agree with whatever you have with her," he twirled his finger, "as long as she is happy, I'm happy."

"Thank you," Jane said. "Not that your dislike of me would change anything," he added. "But it's nice to know."

Jimmy hesitated. He seemed to be refraining from saying something, but he couldn't stop himself. He narrowed his eyes once again at Jane and clicked his tongue against his teeth.

"Don't mistreat her, Mr…" he trailed off, realizing he didn't know Jane's name.

"Jane. Patrick Jane."

"Yeah, well, don't treat her like with what she's grown up with, Mr. Jane," Jimmy warned. "I'm sure Stan has already told you this. She's all I got."

"I don't plan on it, James," Jane said. "I love her. She deserves all that my love can give her. I promise, I will take good care of her."

"Good," Jimmy said. "I'll be making sure. I have a metal bat that I call "the knee breaker". You know… Just in case."

"I understand. Good," Jane replied. "I suspect you have that around just for your gambling debts. Dual purpose, I suppose."

Lisbon came in a moment later to take her brother down to the local station to provide a written statement. There was an understanding now between the two brothers and Jane. Jane knew the score, and the only person left to tell was Tommy.

"Reese, I love you, but you sleep with the strangest people," Jimmy told her, walking past her. "The guy is a weirdo. Who wears a vest to bust suspects?"

Lisbon shot a look at Jane who shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't his fault they could read her. He was just the convenient, and right, person involved. She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned before exiting. He chuckled and followed her out.


	3. Tommy and Annabeth Lisbon

Tommy groaned as he threw days old pizza crust across the room where it thudded against the wall and fell to the smelly carpet below. He was two hours too late. The manager he questioned had told him a bunch of officers had come and rounded up Jimmy, taking him with them. The manager, for an extra hundred dollars, had told him of a brunette female and a curly blond-haired man in a vest who had come to inquire about the man in room 707.

"Damn it, Reese," he mumbled under his breath, wiping his greasy hand on his bounty hunter jacket.

He took one last glance around the filthy room and exited, slamming the door behind him. He gestured to the white van, to his daughter, Annabeth, and shook his head.

"Where?" she called to him, leaning her head out of the driver-side window. "Fight or flight?"

Tommy sighed and walked to the van. "Neither. Aunt Reese."

Annabeth smiled widely at this. She knew precisely what he meant by that. He opened the van door and scooted her across to the passenger seat. He groaned as he threw the van in reverse and lurched forward toward the main street ahead. This was so like her! Whenever there was trouble, Teresa was there. Any other time, she managed to come see them a measly every few years.

"So…" Annie turned to him and bobbed her head. "What do we do now that Aunt Reese has Uncle Jimmy?"

"We find them," he replied, turning the corner sharply. "He's got a warrant out on him already."

"As soon as they run him, they are going to keep him for it," Annie responded. "Of course."

"Yeah," he nodded his head at his daughter. "He's looking at some good time."

"So, where are we going?"

"Downtown."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Make sure he tells you everything," Lisbon told Agent Abbott. "He's good at lying."

Abbott nodded his head as she exited out of the double glass doors and into the hallway outside. She looked through the open blinds at her brother and shook her head. She pulled out her phone, intending to make a call to Stan, but was startled when her own phone rang in her hands.

"Hello?" she answered slowly. The caller ID didn't show her a name. "This is Lisbon."

She listened for a minute as she watched Jane come out of the kitchen holding a cup of piping hot tea. Her face must have reflected frustration, because Jane reached out his free hand to trace the crease between her brows.

"Oh, crap!" she exclaimed. "Where at? Okay. Okay, no, I'll be there."

Lisbon hung up the phone and shoved it angrily back into her jacket pocket. Jane put his hand on her shoulder and bent down to look her in the face.

"Who was that, Teresa?" he asked. "You just tensed up."

"Family reunion," she replied with irritation.

Five minutes later, Lisbon and Jane were standing in front of the FBI building, the white van of her brothers parked at the curb. Both Lisbon and Tommy were standing with crossed arms, and Annie was sitting in the van, her head resting on her hands in the open window, listening to her dad and aunt fight.

"You need to leave, Tommy," Lisbon was telling him. "This isn't your business. I can't even believe you are still doing this job!"

"There you go, thinking I'm a screw up again!" he shot back. "I thought we cleared this up!"

"Tommy, you can't be here, now," she told him. "You need to take Annabeth and go home!"

"Teresa," Jane told her softly, reaching for wrist and encircling his fingers around it. "It's his family, too."

Lisbon watched Tommy's eyes shoot down to Jane's hand around his sisters wrist, and turned to look at him with a sense of confusion. Annie, from her position in the van, looked at what her dad was peering at a moment before and smiled widely.

"I knew it!" she howled in delight, banging her hands on the door of the van. "I told you, dad! I called it! I am so good."

Tommy turned his attention to his sister and jabbed a finger in Jane's general direction. Jane, noticing that it was making attention, withdrew his hand and placed it in his pocket.

"When did this happen?" Tommy asked, his finger wagging back and forth from Lisbon to Jane. "What... when...?"

"It was soooo obvious, dad," Annie replied, rolling her eyes. "I was waiting for this day!"

"Tommy," Lisbon told him quietly, "my personal life isn't any of your business. You can't go in there and talk to Jimmy. They won't let you."

"He has a warrant out on him, Reese." he replied. "A bench warrant. We are talking a year, Teresa. He needs professional help, not jail."

"I know, Tommy," said Lisbon. "I work for the FBI. Do you think we don't check that? He's going to get a deal to extinguish the warrant so long as he cooperates."

Tommy was silent for a moment. "Oh," he replied finally.

"So, you need to go, Tommy. Go visit Stan," she suggested. "He hasn't seen you in a few months."

"I just want you to know, Reese," he started, rubbing his chin with his hand, "that I support you in anything you do. Even if you are seeing him," he jabbed another thumb at Jane. "And I wish you would do the same for me."

"Do you think there is a chance to call him uncle Jane any time soon?" Annie giggled. "I kind of like the idea of having him as an uncle. He can fine-tune my pick-pocketing."

"Well, I don't know about that, Annie," Jane smiled at her. "Your dip game is weak."

"You taught it to me," she answered gleefully.

Lisbon smiled despite herself and shook her head. Annabeth was already okay with Jane. Tommy, on the other hand, seemed apprehensive, but his words made her feel better. The brothers hadn't cared much for Greg. Oh, he had been a sweet guy, and they admired him for that. When it came to dating their sister, it was a completely different game.

"I am proud of you, Tommy," she replied, the smile fading from her face. "I meant that."

Tommy swallowed hard and turned to Jane. Tommy struck out a hand, and Jane took it and shook it robustly. Jane smiled at Tommy and watched the other man return the favor.

"I've seen you around my sister before," Tommy said. "You seem to care about her, Mr. Jane. Plus, you helped me out with the bounty that time, even if Reese let me have him."

"Yes, I do care about her," he confirmed.

"Okay..." he trailed off. "Good. Teresa can make up her own mind... she's an adult. I just hope you know that my brothers will..."

"I've already found that out," Jane told him, laughing. "I've spoken to them. Jimmy thinks I am an oddball and also has a metal bat with my name on it, and Stan seemed neutral. I am considering you as being okay with it?"

"I guess."

"I'm okay with it," Annie said loudly. "Who can say they have an FBI agent for an aunt and a vest-wearing side-kick for her boyfriend? It's like Batman and Robin!"

"Well," Tommy said. "I guess we have that cleared up. I guess congratulations, Reese and Mr. Jane?"

Jane laughed and shook his head and Lisbon pressed her tongue against her teeth and clicked it.

"Well, I guess I will take your advice and go see Stan."

"Good idea," Lisbon agreed. "He'd be happy to see you and his daughters would like to see you, Annie."

Annie snorted and sat back in her seat. Tommy turned and gave his sister and unexpected hug.

"Be good, Reese," he told her. "Make sure you keep your gun on you," he joked, looking Jane's way.

"You, too, Tommy," she replied. "I'll tell Jimmy you came by, okay?"

"Yeah."

Tommy let her go and climbed into the van. Annie stuck her hand out of the window and waved.

"Bye, Aunt Reese! Bye uncle Jane!" she giggled as the van pulled away.

"That's all of them," Jane told her as the van disappeared down the road. "Unscathed."

"Thank God," Lisbon agreed. She snorted in laughter.

"What?"

"One thinks you're an odd, vest-wearing weirdo, one thinks you are just okay and the other is just so clueless, but his daughter likes you so he likes you."

"You're related to them, you know!"

"Don't remind me," she replied, still laughing. "I love them."

"I love you," Jane told her seriously. "By default, I love them, too."

"I love you, too," she told Jane, reaching for his hand. "Let's go talk to the one who thinks you're a weirdo."

This is the last chapter. Thank you for sticking with me. Excuse the grammar mistakes!


End file.
